The Dutch online hotel booking platform will have to pay €413 million for abuse of a dominant position, the Spanish competition watchdog has ruled. It had been contacted in 2021 by two hotel associations who denounced the conditions imposed by Booking.
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The Spanish competition authority has never imposed such a large fine for anti-competitive practices. The Dutch site was accused of ” abuse of dominant position ” to the detriment of the hotel sector in Spain and ordered to pay 413 million euros.
In the world’s second-largest tourist destination after France, it has sanctioned Booking on several points. In particular, for having prohibited hotels from offering lower prices on their own website than on the platform, or for having implemented a series of practices that push hotels to be present only on Booking, to the detriment of other websites.
New digital rules in the EU
The Dutch company will also have to allow hoteliers to settle their disputes before the Spanish courts. Until now, professionals in the sector had to go to the courts of The Netherlands to assert their rights against Booking.
The announcement of this fine comes at a time when, in parallel, a new regulation on digital markets came into force in March in theEuropean Union and should help increase competition in the sector. Booking, but also Airbnb, are among the platforms affected by the new rules.
Booking has decided to appeal the Spanish decision. Meta, for its part, risks a European sanction, under the new regulation on digital markets.
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